Floyd Mayweather: No offense meant
LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. apologized Wednesday, a day after he told a small group of reporters at the MGM Grand that he believed the NFL should have followed through on its initial two-game ban of former Ravens running back Ray Rice rather than suspend him indefinitely after the release of video showing Rice punching his then-fiance in a casino elevator.
"I was just getting word from people that there was a video out there. I didn't know because I'm training for a fight," Mayweather said after the final news conference for his rematch against Marcos Maidana on Saturday night. "If I offended anyone, I apologize. I didn't mean to offend anyone and I apologize to the NFL and anyone else that got offended. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes and I don't condone that at all."
At the tail end of the half-hour meeting with boxing reporters on Tuesday, Mayweather was asked about what he thought about Rice's suspension from the NFL and termination by the Ravens.
"They had said that they had suspended him for two games," Mayweather said. "Whether they saw the tape or not, I truly believe a person should stick to their word. If you tell me you're going to do something, do what you say you're going to do. But once again, I'm not in the NFL, so I can't really speak about the situation."
"I think there's a lot worse things that go on in other people's households, also," Mayweather said. "It's just not caught on video, if that's safe to say. You know I wish Ray Rice nothing but the best. He's probably going through a lot right now because football is his love. It's no different with me being in the fight game if they told me, 'You know Floyd, you signed the biggest deal in sports history [with Showtime/CBS] and a couple months later the deal is taken away from you' -- it's like 'Oh man.' It's not really the money. It's the love of the sport."
The topic probably hit close to home considering Mayweather's history of domestic abuse. He has been accused of the crime multiple times and in 2012 was sentenced to 90 days in jail at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas after he pleaded guilty to a reduced battery domestic violence charge and no contest to two harassment charges against Josie Harris, his ex-girlfriend with whom he has children.
The case stemmed from an alleged hair-pulling, punching and arm-twisting argument with Harris while two of their children watched in September 2010.
Mayweather, who claims he is innocent but was facing 34 years in prison if he had been convicted, served 63 days before being released for good behavior.
Earlier this month, Mayweather's former girlfriend, Shantel Jackson, filed a civil lawsuit against him claiming, among other things, that he battered and tormented her, held her against her will and held her at gunpoint in addition to posting to one of his social media pages a sonogram supposedly showing her pregnant with his twins and claiming she had an abortion.
Mayweather, in further discussing the Rice case Tuesday, added: "Like I've said in the past, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing. With O.J. and Nicole, you seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna, you seen pictures. With [Chad] Ochocinco and Evelyn, you seen pictures. You guys have yet to see any pictures of a battered woman, a woman who says she was kicked and beaten [by me]. So I just live my life and try to stay positive, and try to become a better person each and every day."
